From Deseret News archives:
Some Provo hopefuls have thick wallets; others scrimping
Plenty of election spending
Sumsion was reluctant to tip his hand Tuesday night, hours after filing his last campaign finance report before the election. The report showed he has spent $7,600 but has nearly $10,000 on hand.
Sumsion's strategy is built on a belief that he peaked too early when he lost a city-wide council campaign in 2005. He did say that at least some of his cash will be spent on a mailer that should go out shortly.
His opponent, incumbent Cynthia Dayton, has raised $6,000 and spent $5,500 in her struggle to retain the northeast Provo seat that represents one-fifth of the city.
Sumsion's not the only one with a thick political wallet. Midge Johnson has outspent rival Melanie McCoard handily and is headed down the stretch with more than $3,000 in the bank. That amount is close to what McCoard has spent on the entire election.
And Steve Turley, running to retain the only city-wide seat on the ballot, has outspent challenger Coy Porter, $21,655 to $8,602.
"The mayor spent four times what I spent, and he was running the exact same race, a city-wide race," Turley said. "We have scrimped and saved and recycled. In the primary, I was reusing fliers from four years ago. We've recycled stationary, fliers and signs."
Sumsion and Dayton in District 1, Johnson in District 3 and Sherrie Hall Everett in District 4 have all spent more than Turley per capita, he said, because each district represents only one-fifth of the city. Turley and Porter, on the other hand, must try to reach every resident, or at least every registered voter.
"When it comes to our race, if I were spending five times what Mark Sumsion has raised, that'd be $75,000," Turley said. "Five times what Midge Johnson has raised would be $50,000. Voters want to be educated, and I'm not going to be embarrassed that I'm helping them go into the election with a better understanding of the issues."
Porter said he has told voters he wouldn't be able to compete with Turley financially, and partially blamed himself. "It's a real struggle for me to ask people to donate," he said. "That's probably the biggest weakness I have is asking people for donations."
Recent comments
John, I think you misunderstood what I was saying. Dave said the...
Jarrod Ribble | Nov. 1, 2007 at 2:44 p.m.
Coy Porter all the way!!!
Anonymous | Nov. 1, 2007 at 1:14 p.m.
At least there is some debate on the council. Steve Turley seems to...
Michael | Oct. 31, 2007 at 3:19 p.m.
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